そそっかしい

i-adjective

careless; hasty; thoughtless

Conjugation

	Affirmative	Negative
Present	そそっかしい	そそっかしくない
Past	そそっかしかった	そそっかしくなかった
て form	そそっかしくて	そそっかしくなくて
Adverbial	そそっかしく	—
Conditional ば	そそっかしければ	そそっかしくなければ
Conditional たら	そそっかしかったら	そそっかしくなかったら

1. careless; hasty; thoughtless; scatterbrained

Tending to act without proper attention or thought, resulting in mistakes. Describes someone who rushes and makes errors due to lack of care.

そそっかしいので、よく忘(わす)れ物(もの)をする。

I'm careless, so I often forget things.

そそっかしい人(ひと)だから、確認(かくにん)を二度(にど)するようにしている。

Since I'm scatterbrained, I make sure to check things twice.

そそっかしく飛(と)び出(だ)して、鍵(かぎ)を閉(し)め忘(わす)れた。

I rushed out carelessly and forgot to lock the door.

FORMS (i-adjective):

Negative: そそっかしくない
Adverbial: そそっかしく
Past: そそっかしかった

Usage

Describes a standing personality trait, not a single lapse. The mistakes come from rushing and not looking properly, never from ignorance.

そそっかしい人(ひと) / そそっかしい性格(せいかく) (a careless person / personality)
そそっかしくて... (being careless, I...)

Most often said of oneself, self-deprecatingly. Said of someone else it is a mild criticism, so it is used about family or close friends rather than about a superior.

Similar words

そそっかしい ↔ 慎重(しんちょう) (careless ↔ careful, cautious)
そそっかしい ↔ 落(お)ち着(つ)いている (hasty ↔ calm, composed)

Related words

うっかり (carelessly, inadvertently): an adverb for a single slip
軽率(けいそつ) (rash, thoughtless): more formal, and about poor judgment rather than haste
せっかち (impatient): rushing itself, without the resulting mistakes

Related Words

Antonym: 慎重(しんちょう) (careful, cautious)

Related: 軽率(けいそつ) (rash (more formal))

Related: せっかち (impatient)

Related: うっかり (carelessly, inadvertently)

general

Added 2026.1.18 12:54 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01

06500/06647_sosokkashii